Passenger associations entice people to ride maiden journey of Vande Bharat to gain support

With four days left for the launching ceremony of the indigenously made express trains, leaders of 7 rail passenger associations bank on this opportunity to gain support and popularity. They started enlisting names of people who would be interested in riding its first journey

Mumbai: Free food, free travel; this is what some leaders of rail passenger associations promise to passengers, who are excited about the maiden journey of Vande Bharat trains from Mumbai.

Another rail passenger association leader and member of Passenger Amenities Committee, Kailash Verma, also sought help in understanding how many people they can get to travel in Vande Bharat trains to Shirdi and Solapur. Verma had also sought information about the train timings so that information can be passed on to these people (HT Photo)

With four days left for the launching ceremony of the indigenously made express trains, leaders of 7 rail passenger associations bank on this opportunity to gain support and popularity. They started enlisting names of people who would be interested in riding its first journey.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the Vande Bharat Express from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) for two routes- Shirdi and Solapur- on February 10.

The passenger associations are trying to entice people by promising that the travel will be free and food will be provided during the journey. Nandkumar Deshmukh, who heads the Upnagriya Rail Pravasi Sangh said that they expect the people, who will get an opportunity to travel in Vande Bharat, to support and participate in future dharnas, protests and back the passenger associations.

“Until now, we have given the names of 25-30 people to the railways along with their Aadhar card, photograph and other information. It is being scrutinised by rail authorities who are now saying that they will provide a special ID card to those people who get approval to travel in the maiden journey,” said Deshmukh.

Another rail passenger association leader and member of Passenger Amenities Committee, Kailash Verma, also sought help in understanding how many people they can get to travel in Vande Bharat trains to Shirdi and Solapur. Verma had also sought information about the train timings so that information can be passed on to these people.

Meanwhile, the railways are testing the Vande Bharat rakes on the steep Thal and Bhor Ghat sections on Mumbai-Pune and Mumbai-Nashik routes. “We will be testing its running on the steep ghat sections while ascending and descending. We will be ensuring that Vande Bharat trains are thoroughly tested encompassing every aspect of its running before putting it out for passenger operations,” said a Central Railway official.

The rail authorities will be testing at speeds up to 55 kmph on the ghat section and 100-130 kmph on other sections as permissible.